Category Archives: Business & Politics

About 500 creditors are prohibited from pursuing money from the San Group of companies until at least Dec. 19. The forestry venture, which consists of nearly 20 related businesses, filed for protection from creditors on Nov. 29. On that date, the monitor received permission to prepare for a sale and investment solicitation process but no details are public. That protection expired on Monday and was renewed by Justice Michael Stephens as the Deloitte Restructuring monitor works to unravel a complex financial picture. …It appears the company has not paid its 2024 property taxes for its huge remanufacturing plant in Port Alberni. …The monitor said the companies’ cash-flow forecast lacks supporting data, and information is not arriving in a timely way. San Group companies experienced a 17% drop in sales in the fiscal year 2023 from fiscal year 2022. This year’s sales are on track to run about 20% below last year.

Related coverage in Nanaimo News Now: SAN’s finances affect Port Alberni’s budget

Vancouver, BC – Canfor Corporation announced that it has acquired 7% of outstanding shares of VIDA AB effective today. The shares were acquired from certain minority shareholders utilizing their option privileges under the February 2019 agreement in which Canfor purchased 70% of VIDA AB, Sweden’s largest privately owned sawmill company. After concluding this transaction, Canfor owns 77% of VIDA AB. [END]

Amid increasing global demand for sustainable materials and new tariff threats from the U.S., Alberta is taking bold steps to strengthen global trade ties. A recent forestry trade mission to Japan punctuates the province’s commitment to diversifying its export markets by strengthening trade relationships in Japan, Alberta’s second-largest export market for softwood lumber. The first of its kind, this Alberta-led trade mission was headed by Minister Todd Loewen and Deputy Minister Ronda Goulden of the Government of Alberta’s Forestry and Parks ministry. Delegates from Canada Wood and Alberta’s forest industry joined the mission as well. In a high-impact week, the Alberta delegation met with Japanese customers, developers, and builders to discuss pathways to expand wood products trade with Japan and to learn about the unique opportunities and demand for wood construction. 

Ravi Parmar

As the new minister of Forests, Ravi Parmar may have one of the toughest cabinet posts in BC. He will be under pressure to do something about the regulatory burden in B.C. that has been killing B.C. forest sector jobs at a time when B.C.’s forest sector faces crippling tariffs and duties. …A big part of the problem is a shrinking annual allowable cut (AAC). But forest industry leaders point out that… there is an adequate amount of AAC to keep the existing mills running, except that it has been made inaccessible due to cost and red tape. …“Regulations are only one part of the fibre story that we have here in BC,” Parmar said. He blames the big forestry companies for essentially cutting and running – i.e. harvesting the most valuable timber first, when prices were high, and not making the investments needed to access some of the less economic timber.

A BC Supreme Court Justice has approved a short extension of creditor protection as a court monitor works with San Group to reorganize its business operations. The court-appointed monitor from Deloitte asked for the extension as he tries to clarify the value of the company’s assets. …In April, San Group’s Acorn mill in Delta was damaged by a significant fire. One claim for $12.1 million has recently been denied by the insurance company. The company is filing two more claims, jointly worth nearly $30 million. Also, the bomb cyclone was bad for San Group. Log booms in Alberni Inlet got loose, and management has reported losing $6 million in log inventory. The company has third parties trying to recover the logs. …All involved say they believe the company is working in good faith. …The monitor plans to have another report for the next court hearing about San Group’s future on Dec. 19.

BC’s new forests minister, Ravi Parmar, has been busy gathering opinions on the state and possible fate of the province’s forest industry. Now it’s time for [him] to sit down with real experts, pick their brains, catch up on BC forestry economics, and come up with a sensible, realistic, and achievable forestry plan. While promising to be “bold”, he is already saying that basic policies will remain in place. In January, he will receive his official “mandate letter” from Premier David Eby …If we were to write Parmar’s mandate letter, it would first require him to take an unbiased look at his government’s Review to Action scheme and its “commitments” for old-growth forests. …said to have been based on input from what the government called “independent” review panels, Resource Works CEO, Stewart Muir, found out in 2022 that the purportedly independent “Old Growth Technical Advisory Panel” was heavily loaded with bias.

Port Alberni businesses who are creditors of the San Group, a Langley-based company with two lumber mills in the Alberni Valley, are reeling — some saying they’re still owed money. The San Group recently filed for creditor protection with court documents showing it owes $194 million. Michael Ryles owns a company the San Group owes money to after selling a log-loader to the company. Ryles is one of several Alberni business owners CHEK News spoke to Friday, with some saying they’re still owed tens of thousands of dollars. Ryles is sympathetic to the San Group and hopes it will find a way forward to help the Alberni Valley. …The San Group’s Port Alberni manufacturing plant was behind a locked gate Friday, and no noticeable work was happening inside. …The company’s next creditor protection hearing happens Monday in Vancouver.

Another B.C. sawmill company has filed for creditor protection and is planning a restructuring, underscoring the critical state of B.C.’s forest sector. The San Group has received creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, as it undertakes a restructuring. Deloitte Restructuring Inc. has been appointed the company’s monitor. …In 2022, San Group announced the acquisition of Acorn Forest Products in Delta from Interfor. In April this year, the Acorn Forest Products mill was shut down when it was damaged by fire. According to documents filed with Deloitte Restructuring, Acorn Forest Products owes the Vancouver Port Authority $1.9 million in rent. …Under court ordered creditor protection, San Group… can carry on their business “in the ordinary course and in a manner consistent with the preservation of the business and the property. …In October, liens were placed on the company’s Port Alberni sawmill lands as security for nearly $22 million owed to the province in stumpage fees.

Related coverage by:

• Dean Stoltz in CHEK news: Port Alberni sawmill owner San Group files for creditor protection, owes nearly $200 million
• Carla Wilson in the Times-Colonist: San Group files for creditor protection, after Port Alberni layoffs

The Alberta Forest Products Association just wrapped up our 82nd AGM and conference. This year’s event was held in Banff, which is new for us, as we’ve been going to Jasper for decades. Sadly, the fires in Jasper meant that community was not able to host us this year. As an industry, we are heartbroken to see what happened in Jasper. We were also very saddened to learn that firefighter Morgan Kitchen was killed fighting the Jasper fire. Our wildland firefighters make tremendous sacrifices to protect our communities and deserve our gratitude. …the AGM was a great opportunity celebrate our successes as an industry and as an association. Despite ups and downs in markets and in the forest industry across Canada, Alberta has remained relatively stable. This means that we are able to not only focus on the present, but also on the future. Three initiatives that we are especially proud of are the Work Wild Program, Love Alberta Forests campaign, and our Forestry Talks podcast.

Vancouver cleantech venture capital firm Chrysalix Venture Capital is getting behind a B.C. company that developed an innovative process for turning aspen and other junk timber into lumber at a new manufacturing plant in Fort St. James, B.C. Deadwood Innovations, a B.C. company, developed a thermochemical process that takes aspen and other low-quality timber that is unsuitable for sawmilling and transforms it into durable, high-quality lumber. …The new engineered wood process may address a problem the B.C. with a declining harvest by adding aspen and other poor timber to the fibre basket for making lumber. …Deadwood Innovations developed a thermo-chemical treatment process that increases the wood’s density and strength so that it can be formed into lumber. …Chrysalix’s investment will help finance Deadwood’s first commercial scale plant in Fort St. James, in partnership with the Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation’s Nak’azdli Development Corp.

Ever since it was barely re-elected, the BC NDP government has promised a renewed focus on growing the economy, creating jobs and generating new sources of revenue. So it is perhaps surprising to hear that since the election, no cabinet ministers, nor the premier himself, have responded to requests to sit down and hear out a series of increasingly urgent concerns from the province’s top business leaders. …None of the ministers responsible for economic growth have responded to a meeting request from the so-called “G7” of B.C.’s business community — [which includes]… the Council of Forest Industries. …The groups issued a letter calling on all parties to prioritize the “deeply concerning” deterioration of the B.C. economy. …“Forestry has shed over 10,000 direct jobs in just four years and hundreds of millions of dollars of lost investment.

As more northern B.C. forestry jobs are lost amid continued pressure on the lumber industry, food bank operators in small towns say they’re seeing an increase in demand. The communities of Vanderhoof and Fort St. John are set to lose 500 jobs at the end of December when Canfor is slated to close sawmills in both communities. Food bank operators say they’ve already seen an uptick in usage this year… The future for B.C.’s forestry sector continues to be murky, as U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber could get even steeper… Patricia Budgell, with the Fort St. John Salvation Army, says their food bank is already seeing double the visits that it saw in 2023. …”It’s been really tough because, again, with the industry shutdown, a lot of those industries, when they were active, [were] supporting the food bank through sponsorships and items and donations,” she said.

VANCOUVER, BC – Two of the country’s largest pulp and paper unions, Unifor and the Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC), have selected Kruger, Inc. in Kamloops, B.C. as the target to establish pattern bargaining across the forestry sector in Western Canada. “We believe workers are stronger when we work together, strategically, to build and protect good jobs and advocate for the workers’ vision of a brighter future for the Canadian forestry sector,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “Unifor and PPWC have a strong history of solidarity, and this partnership is one of the ways we walk the talk as we urge corporations, industry leaders and governments to work with us to build a strong and value-added domestic forestry industry.” … Payne shared some of the union’s vision for industry-wide collaboration on December 2 when she appeared before the House of Commons Committee on International Trade regarding the softwood lumber dispute.

KAMLOOPS — While the Tolko Heffley Creek Mill was a hive of activity on Monday (Dec. 2) morning, come December 20, the mill will be shut down. “They’ve had significant curtailments at this plant alone. They have already lost 30 per cent of their capacity, they’ve dropped their graveyard shift,” said BC Conservative Forest Critic and Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer. “That also impacts the logging contractors. …And nobody has a crystal ball, but I’m quite sure there will be more curtailments as this unfolds.” …“This temporary downtime is due to high fibre costs, poor weather conditions during the fall harvesting season and weak North American lumber and plywood markets,” said Tolko Communications Advisor Chris Downey. …Keta Kosman, owner of the Madison Lumber Reporter, does however see a light at the end of the tunnel. “We’ve seen a bottom. …Now we know where that is and that gives a stability to the lumber manufacturers and the builders,” said Kosman.

After 14 years of dedicated leadership, Dr. Charles Jago is stepping down as Chair of the Sinclar Group Forest Products Board of Directors. …Charles is a long-serving community member of northern BC, providing leadership and valued guidance on the boards of several local institutions. He is a former President of the University of Northern British Columbia and the namesake of the Charles Jago Northern Sport Center. …On behalf of the Sinclar Board of Directors, I express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Charles Jago for his leadership and commitment to the success of our company. With Dr. Jago’s departure, I am pleased to introduce our new Board Chair, Betty Ann Shiels. Betty Ann is a long-time resident of Prince George. She obtained her B. Comm from the University of Alberta and began her career in Prince George with Deloitte, Haskins & Sells. She … was an Assurance and Advisory partner with Deloitte for 20 years…

Chrysalix Venture Capital, a leading early-stage fund that specializes in transformational industrial innovation, is excited to announce an investment in Deadwood Innovations, developers of a solution to upgrade low-grade lumber, waste & underutilized species into high strength, durable & sustainable products in premium engineered wood markets… The investment will support the development of the first commercial-scale facility in Fort St. James, British Columbia, in partnership with the Nak’azdli Development Corporation. CEO John-Paul Wenger stated, “Partnering with Deadwood Innovations and Chrysalix enables us to demonstrate how investment, innovation, and collaboration can deliver meaningful economic reconciliation, diversify the forestry sector, and promote responsible forest management practices.”

The Truck Loggers Association (TLA) is an advocacy organization seeking a dynamic and visionary executive director to lead our organization in lobbying government for fair policies to meet the needs of our members. The executive director will play a key role in shaping the future of the association by effectively influencing policymakers, ensuring membership growth, and advancing the interests of forest dependent contractors, suppliers and communities who depend on a sustainable forest industry. The executive director is responsible for executing effective advocacy, delivering strategic leadership, and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Truck Loggers Association including member services, communications, and financial management. This individual will work closely with the Board of Directors, staff, and key stakeholders to further the TLA’s mission and vision. This is a full-time permanent position. This is a remote-work position requiring regular travel to meetings and events throughout the province.

QUESNEL, BC — West Fraser will be closing one of its four facilities in Quesnel for seven days in the last two weeks of the year. The Quesnel Sawmill will be closed with around 280 employees affected. The company cites a lack of log supply as the cause of the temporary closure. “Past infestations, wildfire, government policy decisions, and land-access constraints have severely reduced the available timber supply,” the company said in an email statement. “A percentage of our fibre supply comes from the open market which has been difficult to source this year.” Employees of the mill have the option to take vacation days to receive pay during the closure. …The other West Fraser facilities in Quesnel will continue to operate on their normal schedules despite the closure.